Tampa Bay · hurricane season

Keep the power on when the grid goes down

Plain guides to generators, battery power, cooling and solar for Florida houses: what to buy, how big, and what an electrician has to connect.

Generators Read the guides

Five ways to keep a house running

Each one covers a different outage: a day without power, a week after a hurricane, or a summer bill you'd like to cut.

A dual-fuel inverter generator running outdoors with a cord plugged in

Generators

Gas, dual-fuel and inverter generators sized for a Florida house, and how they connect safely.

Power stations

Battery power stations for the fridge, the CPAP and the internet, with no fuel and no exhaust.

A ductless mini-split head on a bedroom wall

Mini-splits

Ductless cooling for a bedroom or an addition, and the units a generator can run.

Solar and batteries

Rooftop solar and home batteries in Florida: what they power when the grid is down.

EV charging

Home chargers for an electric car, and what a Level 2 install takes.

Start here

The questions to settle before you buy anything.

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A central air conditioner condenser beside a brick house

Generators

How big a generator does a Tampa Bay house need?

Running watts, starting watts and the sizes that cover most Florida houses: the essentials, the essentials plus one cool room, and central air.

A family picnic with a portable power station

Power stations

Power station or generator? What a battery actually runs in a Florida outage

How to work out a power station's runtime, what a refrigerator, a CPAP and the internet really draw, and when a battery beats a generator after a Tampa Bay storm, and when it doesn't.

Generators

Gas, propane or both: generator fuel for a Tampa Bay hurricane season

Why gas lines after Milton make dual-fuel worth it, how long gasoline and propane keep, what a 20-pound tank actually runs, and where natural gas fits.

Generators we'd shortlist

Dual-fuel and inverter models with a carbon monoxide shutoff, picked on published specs. The full comparison is on the generators page.

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Product links on this page go to Amazon. If you buy through them, Electric Tampa earns a commission. How we pick and earn

Mid dual-fuel inverter

Champion 4500-Watt Dual Fuel Inverter

Champion 201319

Enough for the essentials with headroom, on gasoline or a 20-pound propane tank, with electric start and a CO shutoff.

Running / starting: 3,500 / 4,500 W gas
On propane: 3,150 / 4,500 W
Run time: 14 h gas, 21 h propane at ¼ load
Noise: 61 dB(A) at 23 ft
Weight: 99.2 lb
CO shutoff: CO Shield

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Large dual-fuel inverter

WEN DF680iX

An inverter big enough for the essentials plus a bedroom AC or mini-split, with a 30-amp 240 V outlet for a transfer switch.

Running / surge: 5,100 / 6,800 W gas
On propane: 4,500 / 6,000 W
Run time: 6.1 h gas, 9 h propane at ½ load
Outlets: L14-30R, TT-30R, 2× 5-20R
Weight: 94.8 lb
CO shutoff: CO Watchdog

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Large dual-fuel open-frame

Westinghouse WGen9500DFc

The size where a 3-ton central AC comes into reach, with both a 30-amp and a 50-amp 240 V outlet for the transfer switch.

Running / peak: 9,500 / 12,500 W gas
On propane: 8,500 / 11,200 W
Run time: 12 h gas at ¼ load
Outlets: L14-30R, 14-50R, 2× GFCI 5-20R
Weight: 212.1 lb
CO shutoff: CO Sensor

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How we pick

We compare what manufacturers publish: running and starting watts, fuel, run time, noise, outlets and safety features, and we read the manuals for what they say about connecting to a house. We don't run lab tests, and we say so. Anything that ties into your panel, such as an inlet, an interlock or a transfer switch, is a licensed electrician's job, and we say that too. How we earn